INSOCH is proud to share part of the research our panelists presented at the INSOCH Conference on Inequality. Their papers served as starting points and were discussed during the panels by its authors and conference participants.
You can find longer descriptions of their research and the relevant conference session below.
Please note: Although they were checked and edited for academic rigour and correctness, INSOCH assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the papers. Their distribution is for informational purposes only.
The first INSOCH Conference took place from 29th to 30th of September 2022 in The Hague (NL). It served at the same time as the inaugural event for the Institute for Societal Change.
In line with the three INSOCH themes, the theme of the Conference was Inequality. The Conference created a collaborative and equal ground for experts and budding researchers of different academic levels to brainstorm potential answers to issues within the Conference theme.
Besides the moderated panels, during which young researchers presented and discussed own research, there were two workshops relating to (critical) research skills and the keynote INSOCH Lecture.
Details on the programme, our speakers and panelists can be found in the programme information below. The full schedule is also still available in the download section below.
More is yet to come! Don't miss out on any new information by following us on social media.
This page will not be updated after the end of the Conference on 30 Sept. 2022.
Thursday, 29 September - 17.20h
The Meaning of Decolonizing Education and the Three Lives of a Student-Scholar
by
Dr. Aarti Kawlra
Academic Director at Humanities Across Borders at the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden
Aarti Kawlra is a social anthropologist and Academic Director of the Humanities Across Borders (HAB) program at the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden (IIAS), the Netherlands. HAB facilitates transdisciplinary and trans-regional collaborations to build bridges between the 'text' and 'context' of knowledge making and transmission in higher education.
Her research work interrogates disciplinary and popular narratives surrounding culture, heritage, education, nation and development. Her publications include the monograph We Who Wove with Lotus Thread: Summoning Community in South India, Orient Blackswan (2018), the co-edited special issue on "Caste, craft and education in colonial India and Sri Lanka" of the Journal Review of Development and Change, MIDS 2018, the book chapter “Sari-Kimono and the making of a transnational craft-scape” in the edited volume, India-Japan Narratives: Lesser Known Historical and Cultural Interactions Mosai, 2021 and the Shaping Asia working paper (Berlin) "‘Humanities Across Borders’ (HAB): Towards a trans-regional, civic ecology of learning", co-authored with Philippe Peycam (forthcoming).
In this talk, Dr. Kawlra will reflect upon her work of implementing Humanities Across Borders (HAB), a collaborative education initiative of the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), to re-imagine curricular frameworks and practices jointly with university partners from across the world.
The INSOCH Lecture exists to highlight developments in some key areas of focus of the Institute's purpose and work. By inviting leading scholars and experienced personal of great initiatives, we want to make existing expertise available to a young audience and give a platform to issues and developments close to the essence of INSOCH.
The Sciathon is an independent event that will be held simultaneously with the Conference. It combines the short-period, solution-oriented approach of a project sprint with the methods and questions of the Social Sciences.
In the limited time period of two days, small groups of 2-5 people from various academic backgrounds will work on issues of interest to them and relevant to the INSOCH and Conference themes.
Over the course of the two days, workshops will give the Sciathon teams the chance to refine their work and develop new skills.
The winning teams will get the chance to actualise their submitted project, idea, or research within INSOCH in the nearer future. Depending on the nature of the submitted work of the winning group, INSOCH will work together with them to realise or continue to refine the proposed project.
Learn more about the Sciathon here.
Thursday, 29 September - 18.30h
The panelists, young academics who submitted their work for presentation at the INSOCH Conference, will discuss issues of inequality related to various ongoing climate and sustainability crises around the globe. For years now, the wickedness of these problems and the potential and real consequences for millions of people and their livelihood are clear. On a crises-ridden planet, it is time the voice and expertise of younger people are heard! We are very happy to have young, aspiring academics give their perspectives on some of their recent research.
A moderator will lead the discussion. Participants will be able to ask questions and are encouraged to offer their perspectives and insights.
Moderator
Babak RezaeeDaryakenari
Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science, Leiden University
Panelists
Seldon Bhutia – A Gendered Approach to Climate Change Policies and Action
"The climate crisis has long been framed as a scientific and technological issue, overlooking how it relates to human development and social equalization. The aim of my research was to investigate the link between gender equality and climate action, focusing on how gender intersects with or impacts climate change outcomes, and on women's potential to influence climate change action, planning and policy. Climate change is the defining issue of today and the way we tackle this challenge is crucial. The meaningful participation of women and the integration of a gendered approach to climate policies and action is essential in order to ensure a just and sustainable future; but there is a lack of research on this topic. , thus my research sought to add to the limited existing studies. Gender equality, social equity and sustainability are issues that are inextricably interlinked and must be addressed together, in order to enhance human and environmental well-being."
Harman Anand – Climate Disasters and Risks of Communal Conflict in Ethiopia
"The physical and societal impacts of climate change pose major conflict risks. Contemporary empirical research has managed to outline potential causal pathways that provide an indirect link between climate change to violent conflict. These pathways serve as coherent explanations behind the causes and dynamics of climate-related violent conflict. To this end, my research tested these causal explanations in the backdrop of major meteorological drought in 2002. Specific to case-study research, the work found that worsening livelihood conditions and changes in pastoral mobility patterns as a consequence of climate change, increase the risk of communal conflict between ethnic Afar and Issa (Dir) groups in Ethiopia. Existing inequalities and vulnerabilities of Afar and Issa communities was critical for the effects of drought to shape communal conflict."
Ioana Murgoci – The Climate Crisis and Gender (In)Equality Discourses in the USA.
"In my research, I explore the relationship between the climate crisis and gender inequality starting from the issue of group security within societies presented in a recent study which linked women's systematic subordination to political instability. I conducted a critical discourse analysis and focused on the last two U.S. Presidents' strategies on gender inequality. Thus, throughout the study, it was essential to understand and present the meaning assigned to each of the two main phenomena - the climate crisis and gender (in)equality - by the two administrations. In the end, the research revealed the interconnectedness between these two issues and the distinct approaches of the U.S. in the span of five years."
Friday, 30 September - 16.00h
The panelists, young academics who submitted their work for presentation at the INSOCH Conference, will discuss their own and each others' work on local governance and how it relates to different forms of inequality. Whether it be immigration, public health or nutrition – local authorities shape people’s realities around the globe. New solutions and approaches are being tried out in many different contexts; the potential of efficient and thought-through local governance is gaining attention. And we are happy to let our panelists contribute to the process!
A moderator will lead the discussion. Participants will be able to ask questions and are encouraged to offer their perspectives and insights.
Moderator
Grace Ellis
Junior Researcher in the Conflict Research Unit of the Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations, The Hague
Panelists
Daniel Soucy – South Asian Immigration in the United States
"South Asian immigration to the United States has long been subjected to racialized, arbitrary and exclusionary standards. Because many 21st century South Asian migrants venture to the United States to pursue education and employment opportunities, their experiences are often framed as uniquely privileged and lacking precarity. However, my research reveals the opposite. It explores 20th century migrant experiences in the progressive and diverse city of Philadelphia (USA), based on oral historical interviews with contemporary South Asian migrants and archive research. In drawing comparisons between these sources in the United States' larger socio-political history, my work reveals the effects of seemingly banal differences between the United States’ global identity and migrants' lived expectations in Philadelphia. Finally, it finds that historical restrictions and racism continue to shape and enforce marginalisation and exclusion of South Asian migrants in the United States."
Antonio Salazar – Health Crises and Their Local Governance
"Drawing from street-level bureaucracy literature, my work looked into how pandemic-related quarantine policies in the Philippines are transformed from “policy-as-written” to “policy-as-practiced”. It identified the internal and external pressures experienced by local government health workers, and the corresponding strategies employed by local government health workers to cope with these pressures. My findings reveal that issues on resources, fear of infection, and political pressures shaped the policy environment of local health workers. One noteworthy best practice derived from the findings of the research indicate the use of social networks to enforce quarantine protocols."
Rabea Sorka – Food Insecurity and Urban Agriculture in Detroit, USA
"Urban Agriculture (UA) has been increasingly trending among – specifically western - urban residents as a sustainable lifestyle throughout the last decades. However, in urban areas such as Detroit (USA), people depend on sustainable tranisitions to react to the immediate threat to nutrition, and existential well-being. Today, Detroiters face scarcities in local fresh food retail and production and to escape this, residents work on establishing a healthy, sovereign community through UA. Nevertheless, from a justice perspective, the inequalities along this transition within an urban space that has been shaped by systematic political and urban racism need further inquiry. Therefore, the paper investigates people's unequal exposure to food insecurity and for whom UA can be seen as a broadly sustainable solution to transforming Detroit's food supply."
Thursday, 29 September - 18.30h
Social and Gender Inequalities in the Context of Climate Change
by
Dr. Aisa O. Manlosa
Assistant Professor at the Faculty Governance and Global Affairs, Leiden University
The negative impacts of climate change are unevenly distributed across and within countries. Poorer communities in the Global South contribute a marginal fraction of total greenhouse gas emissions relative to richer countries. They are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and have less resources to effectively adapt at the scale that is needed. In many cases, they are excluded from decision-making processes on matters that impact their lives. Foregrounding the role of inequalities is central to understanding how climate change impacts on human well-being and for planning effective adaptation strategies at the local scale.
In this workshop, we will discuss inequalities with a focus on intersectional gender inequalities in the context of climate change. The concept of intersectionality refers to the process through which gender intersects with other axes of social differentiation (e.g. class, race, ethnicity) to create context-specific and distinct patterns of advantages and marginalisation. Participants will learn about different dimensions in which inequality is experienced and explore a number of frameworks that may help expand the participants’ methodological toolkit.
Friday, 30 September - 17.00h
Writing International Relations Differently
by
Dr. Vineet Thakur
University Lecturer in International Relations at the Institute for History, Leiden University
In this session, we will problematise some of the mainstream approaches in the discipline of International Relations and discuss what non-western approaches bring to the discipline. Further, we will discuss some of the issues and challenges with writing IR from a non-western perspective. This workshop is meant to introduce students to non-western/post-western approaches to International Relations.